Wash rag



R. STEWART Aug. 23, 1932.

WASH RAG Filed Sept. 16, 1931 THJUnihSPHLM/f l l l l l l ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 23, 1932 EVP TET-`0FF1C RoBERTs'rEWAnT, or oz'oNE PARK, VNEW YORK i WASH RAG Application sliled `Septemlnsr 16, 193.1. Serial VNo., 563,067.

. present invention in its'broader' aspects `is,` concerned with the provision of a pad which may have a Wide andV varied-field of usefulness(` Such pads `vvith slight modification may be madellp ascleaning pads, Wash cloths, powder puffs, etc., and regardless of the. specific type of article in which the invention is embodied, certain characteristics' of the pad itself prove peculiarly advantageous in F use.

tween -the users hand andthe surface to be An object ofthe invention is to provide a pad capable of'conveni'ent manual' application Itoy a- "s'urface, to be treated, The pad in allvi'nstances is su'liiciently'soft to afford' a substantial cushioning body material `beoperated. on. l n v "nother, object is to provide a-pa'd in Which the padding material, that is the'filler,i may beformed ofmaterial' Which lwould ord-ina- 4'rily become mattedor rotted" or mou-ldyl or otherwise rendered objectionable or.' unsanitary ifjivetterhand' to soprotect this material ,thatt the: outside operatingI surface ofthe-pad may y.be readilyl Washed or scrllb'bed and V thoroughly cleansed VWith soap and Water Without in any `Way wetting the paddingjmatenial; or in affectingthe resilience thereof.

-nother Objectis to prov-ideJ a p a'd which will dry-quickly `When Washedu and' which" is not. subjectftoupermanent distortion regardless offthefmanner in which the p a'dlma'y 'be manually'or otherwise crumpled or crushed Another `object is to .provide a padi cover presenting, an outer surface of any desired a type of fabricandan entirely Water-proofinner surface, the fabric and the Water-'proof material being preferably intimately bonded together so that they may` belconveniently cut-.to sizle'from large sheets of material'a'nd the. composite covering material being `so 4 Another object of the invention'- formedtliat-,a substantially Water-proof seam may be formed by simply sewing the. edges of two layers of the material together' With a line ofordinary stitching. n f

a is to' pro vide a Wash clothlor face cloth in theformof Lpadvvhich Willcombine :softness and Substance of.- body with' a tailored' appearance tained.

and With an outside surface Which is of the conventional character 'commonly used for Wash clothsl and With the 4inherent ability to retain its shape under allconditions of use and to dry in a quiclr'and sanitary fashion after use. A l i* In accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention, the pad as typically embodied in a Wash cloth, constructiomxincludes a body of resilient Water absorbent padding material encased ,in a` Water-tight cover. The cover may consist of a laminated material with1 an outside fabric surface and an inside rubber surface or other' Water impervious surface intimately and permanently bonded-to .the fabric'. The cover is' substantially tailored and' shaped toftthe pa'd Within it andwhen the material' constituting' the cover is closed by a line of stitching", the mere act of tensioning thestitches seems toy `dravv the adjacent overlying edges of the cover lining together with" suic'ient'frinness to preclude the admission of Water to the paddingm'zuzerially Within the'cover.

Contrary to prior types' of padded face cloths in Which Water pervious covers have admitted both v vater' an'dt'soa'p` to a sponge orY othe1`absorbentpadding vmedium the present device 'is highly sanitaryinf that only its outer surface ever becomes WetLy Such sur-z face 1s naturally quick drying Va'l'fid thedanger` ofthe cloths or padsbecomln'g m'oldy or vantages of the padded'vvash clothL are re- It offers substantial'y bull; and softnessandVV is pleasant-tense. The resilient natur'e'ofthe inner lamination of the cover ,material .tendinherently tomaintain thepad.

, saturated ball 'but will 'tendjto' straightenit- Vself Y'out and yfacilitateJl quick drying will bein a dry and 'sanitary condition" when required'for further' use. Y g Y Y The 'advantages'offthis invention 'wvlfenthe smelly due totlieslow drying nature `ortheV hyg-roscopic nature'of the pad, is 'completely eliminated.' Atfthe same time allthe adpad is embodied in a powder puff, correspond generally to the advantages of using the pad as a wash cloth.'Y Furthermore, in a` powder puff constructed in accordance with the invention, the special cover prevents fine dust or grit from sifting through the cover to the padding material proper and permits soiled powder or the like, to be conveniently removed from the cover by washing.

The vdevice is effective Vas aV cleaning pad Yshaped cover sections or may consist of an because it will protect the hands of the user from being bruised orV inJured by contact with the article to be cleaned even though substantial pressure is applied to` the Ypad during a cleaningoperation.A Obviously, otherarticles of manufacture might embody the structural features of the pad which ,con stitutes theV subject matter of the present invention Yand l therefore doV not wish to limit myself to its specific use as a wash cloth,

' powder pu or cleaning pad but intend the VVa padding;

word pad to coverl all generally analogous articles. v

rlhe invention may be more fully rinden Astood from the following description in con- .neetion` with the accompanying drawing,

wherein,

Fig. 1 isa perspective View illustrating a padded wash cloth embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional `view' taken on' the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 3 is a perspective view` of a section of Fig-4 is an exaggerated fragmentary perspective view of the composite cover fabric; Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on the line 5 5 ,einen i Y Fig. 6 is a perspective sectional view show- 1 Ving a powder puffembodying the invention, 4.o f Y and p y .Y ,o

Fig. isa reduced perspective view of the Vpowder puff of Fig; 6 showing the condition of the latterafter Vit has been everted and stuffed and before they puff has been com# pletely closed. V- v Referring first to the paddedwash cloth shown in Figs. V1 to 5 of the drawing, the

-`padding material consists ofa plurality of laminations of cotton batting 10 withA cheese cloth 11 interposedlbetween'them and withy the cheese *cloth and battingsewed together by -a plurality of lines of stitching 12 which may run diagonally or in any desired directions, The purpose of this stitching isto prevent the padding from slipping or crumpling between the cheese cloth laminations. It isin effect, a quilting stitch.

.- The cover for the pad consists of a composite` rubber and'fabric material formed in. any ywell known manner, as for instance, by

applying liquid,rchemically treated* rubber 13 to a fabric 14 (typically terry cloth) and calendering them together so that the fabricv becomes partially embedded in and intimately bonded to the rubber which consti` Vtutes the lining of thefabrio. Neither the pad.

Y The cover may consist of a pair of similarly sewed together byv an overlooking stitch 15.

In practice, the edges of the cover which are sewed together are raw edges, the fabric of course, being kept from lraveling by itsV bond with the rubber. Y When these edges are sewed together by a line of overlooking stitching, the opposed rubber .faces are pressed together sufficiently firmly simply bythe ten-V sion ofthe stitches (applied duringthe machine sewing operation) to prevent any ingress of water through the seam; lEven when sewedl with an ordinary machine stitch and without'any lappingvover, the cover is sealed with sufficient tightness soV that the pad may be soaked in water for hours without any water penetratingto the padding material.. The inherent tendency of the complete cover fabric to "restore itself to its normal flat condition is aided by the inherentrevsiliency of the paddingmaterialitself.

' If desired, the edges of the paddingv material may be caught by the line ofoverloeked stitching to prevent the possibility of slip'- page of the padding material. For all ordinary purposes, however, if fthe padding materia-ly and fcover are fairly carefully cut to.

' size, thereis no danger of the padding becoming displaced ormatter or'lumpyin'the ordinary course of use. a .l f

v An unusual characteristic of the Wash cloth is the fact that the composite cover with its interior rubber surface is substantially selfrestoring to its original shape after the cloth has been crumpled in use. Unlike the ordinary wash cloth which must be carefully unfolded and hung up to dry, a wash cloth 'con-1 i structed'in accordance with the present invention is more or' less inherentlyy selffdis- .tending so that quick dry is promoted, it beelongated cover section as shown, folded back V over the padding and having three edgesv loo l ing understood of course, that the only sur- Y face which is Wet is the outer surfaceof the pad lor cloth. The inherent tendency of the l composite cover fabric to restore itself to Vits normalvflat` condition. is aided by the inherent resiliencyof the padding material itself.

The use of the handle strap` 16 illustrated in the drawingvis entirelyoptional. -This strap, of any suitable material, overliesY one face ofthe pad and has its ends secured Vby the line of stitchingj15 which closes the cover, lThe purpose of the handle strapis Y' to permit the user to slip one hand under the strap and manipulate the cloth or pad without the necessity for gripping the latter with the fingers.

Figs. 6 and 7 show another typical embodiment of the invention. The pad in this instance, takes the form of a powder putt'. Here similar padding material is used and. the cover material is a composite sheet, preferably of velour 16 intimately bonded to a rubber lining 17. together in the customary manner, that is, by sewing it throughout approximately 7/8 of its circumference, then everting itto conceal the line of stitching 18 and then closing the remaining gap 1 9 by hand or machine stitchingafter the padding material has rbeen inserted.

Obviously, the particular shape of either Y The cover may be sewed character described, including a cover con-v sisting of a fabric material intimately bonded to a rubber lining material, a padding of resilient material within the cover, the cover being so sewed together around the padding that the ingress of wat-er to the padding is prevented, the padding including a plurality .of laminations of cotton batting with interposed sheets of fabric sewed to the batting to prevent, bunching thereof.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a padded wash cloth including a filler of resilient padding material, a water proof cover encasing said material and including an integrally bonded inner surface of rubber and an outer surface of fabric.

Signed at New York inthe county of New York and State of New York, this 10th day of September, A. D. 1931.

ROBERT STEWART.

Inasmuch as the only surfaces where either dust or powder may collect is withinY the pile of the velour, it will be seen that by simply washing the pad in soap and water, it may be thoroughly cleansed and after washing will be in a highly sanitary condition.

As in the case of the wash cloth, the use of the rubberized or rubber faced fabric and resilient padding in the puff contributes materially to maintaining the original shape thereof under the usual vicissitudes of handling and of being transported in vanity cases or hand bags into which it may be casually stuffed.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described a device in which the several features of this invention are embodied, and which apparatus in its action attains the various objects of the invention and is well suited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense eXcept as set forth in the claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is laoy i 

